On 12 October 2022, Dr. Shabaz Khan, Director of the UNESCO Cluster Office in Beijing, and specialists from the Office visited ICHCAP to discuss the future collaboration for safeguarding intangible cultural heritage in the Northeast Asia region.

Since 1984, UNESCO Cluster Office in Beijing has worked to promote international cooperation in the field of education, culture, and science among the member states in Northeast Asia, including China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, and South Korea.

During the meeting, ICHCAP explained the provisional programs for safeguarding intangible cultural heritage in Northeast Asia, and the Beijing Office expressed its willingness to support and cooperate.

Mr. Ji-sung Kim, Director-General of ICHCAP, suggested a cooperative project among the three UNESCO Category 2 Centers, respectively established in China, Japan, and South Korea, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of adopting the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding for the Intangible Cultural Heritage.

The Director-General particularly emphasizes the importance of developing and implementing projects to raise awareness of the youth, the generation responsible for transmitting, and safeguarding intangible cultural heritage in the future. He also highlighted the role of international cooperation for the shared intangible cultural heritages in Asia, which require cooperation and solidarity, not competition and conflict, requesting support from the Beijing Office.

ICHCAP congratulated the appointment of Ms. Duong Bich Hanh as the Chief of the Culture Unit at the Beijing Office and welcomed her to be a Governing Board Member of ICHCAP.

In addition, ICHCAP and the Beijing Office shared the view that the Northeast Asia Sub-regional Meeting, which the Center holds every two years with support from the Beijing Office, has played meaningful roles in the region, particularly in that officials from North Korea would participate.

The Director of the Beijing Office expressed gratitude for the contribution of ICHCAP to safeguarding intangible cultural heritage in the Northeast Asia region, hoping that the Center will expand its activities toward the multidisciplinary area beyond the intangible cultural heritage itself. The meeting was closed with a discussion of the role of the Center as a facilitator between the Beijing Office and the private firms of the ROK for their cooperation in the field of education, culture, and science.